Haridwar, Nov 26 (PTI) Diwakar Bhatt, a founding member of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and former state cabinet minister, was cremated with state honour here on Wednesday.
Bhatt, 82, popularly known as "Field Marshal," passed away at his residence here on Tuesday evening after a prolonged illness.
Hundreds of people from across the state, including former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, former state cabinet minister and Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat, and top Uttarakhand Kranti Dal leader Kashi Singh Airy, gathered at the Kharkhari cremation ground on the banks of the Ganges to bid Bhatt a tearful farewell.
Bhatt's son, Lalit Bhatt, lit the funeral pyre.
Earlier, on behalf of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Haridwar District Magistrate Mayur Dixit and Senior Superintendent of Police Pramod Singh Doval paid tribute to Bhatt by offering a wreath on his body.
The police gave him a final farewell with a guard of honour.
A day of state mourning was declared in Haridwar district following Bhatt's death, and all government offices in the district were closed during this period.
Airy, who was Bhatt's associate in founding the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, described him as a true son of the state of Uttarakhand. He said that Bhatt's death was a blow to the party and the state, and that Uttarakhand had lost a true well-wisher.
Bhatt was also the president of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and played a key role during the Uttarakhand statehood movement.
He served as an MLA from the Devprayag assembly seat in Tehri from 2007-12 and was also a cabinet minister in the then Bhuvan Chand Khanduri government. However, he faced defeat in several assembly elections.